Yama: the pit eBook

to mystify him. She only hazily, in a few words,
hinted at the fact that she was a married lady of
the middle class; that she was unfortunate in domestic
life, since her husband was a gambler and a despot;
and that even by fate she was denied such a consolation
as children. At parting she refused to pass an
evening with the notary, and did not want to meet
him; but then she allowed him to write to her—­general
delivery, under a fictitious name. A correspondence
commenced between them, in which the notary flaunted
his style and the ardency of his feelings, worthy
of the heroes of Paul Bourget. She maintained
the same withdrawn, mysterious tone.

Then, being touched by the entreaties of the notary
for a meeting, she made an appointment in Prince Park;
was charming, witty, and languishing; but refused
to go with him anywhere.

So she tortured her adorer and skillfully inflamed
within him the last passion, which at times is stronger
and more dangerous than first love. Finally,
this summer, when the family of the notary had gone
abroad, she decided to visit his rooms; and here for
the first time gave herself up to him with tears,
with twinges of her conscience, and at the same time
with such ardour and tenderness, that the poor secretary
lost his head completely—­was plunged entirely
into that senile love, which no longer knows either
reason or retrospect; which compels a man to lose the
last thing—­ the fear of appearing ridiculous.

Tamara was very sparing of her meetings. This
inflamed her impatient friend still more. She
consented to receiving from him bouquets of flowers,
a modest breakfast in a suburban restaurant; but indignantly
refused all expensive presents, and bore herself so
skillfully and subtly, that the notary never got up
the courage to offer her money. When he once
stammered out something about a separate apartment
and other conveniences, she looked him in the eyes
so intently, haughtily, and sternly, that he, like
a boy, turned red in his picturesque gray hairs, and
kissed her hands, babbling incoherent apologies.

So did Tamara play with him, and feel the ground more
and more under her. She already knew now on what
days the notary kept in his fireproof iron safe especially
large sums. However, she did not hurry, fearing
to spoil the business through clumsiness or prematurity.

And so right now this long expected day arrived; a
great contractors’ fair had just ended, and
all the notaries’ offices were transacting deals
for enormous suras every day. Tamara knew that
the notary usually carried off the money to the bank
on Saturdays, in order to be perfectly free on Sunday.
And for that reason on Friday the notary received
the following letter: